Oh what a dream! To get a peek inside a cuckoo clock factory! Better yet, inside the Anton Schneider Cuckoo Clock Factory, the best of all! And better still, while they are making my cuckoo clocks! Someone should have taken a photo of my face when I walked into the Anton Schneider Cuckoo Clock Factory and saw this. I had no idea they were working on my clocks that day.

Authentic Black Forest Clockworks

It all starts with the parts. Regula movements — only the best! — ready for installation into the clock cases.

The stacks of boxes and the fabric bolts for the kitty to hop on ooze color in their box awaiting installation.

Stacks of weights for both 8-day and 1-day clocks. Looks like art to me.

The cases arrive from the case maker all ready for the movements and bellows to be installed and the goodies added on.

Here, the animated kitty is being added.

Cuckoo Clock Making

When all of the parts are installed the linkages are hooked up and the clock is tested and tweaked until the cuckoo emerges from his door and coos and the figures move in perfect unison.

Testing

Once everything is just right on the clock maker’s bench the clocks are hung for testing.

They are checked for keeping accurate time, the correct operation of the animation, and a perfect cuckoo.

Once a clock is just right it is ready for boxing. Not all make the first cut! Schneider is known for their quality for good reason.

When we were introduced clock maker Tobias he was visibly happy to meet me. It means a lot to know the people we work with, especially when such love of the craft is involved. Few have these skills today, so I treasure the Schneider team not only for what they do for me, but for keeping the craft of the cuckoo clock alive. Many of you reading this are quilters, this has even deeper meaning for us.

I have loved cuckoo clocks all my 68 years of life. When my husband was in the army in 1964, he sent a huge clock home to his family and it is hanging in my diningroom. It won’t run but a few minutes and then it quits. Several ppl have worked on it and it still won’t stay running.

This is so interesting! Thank you Jodie for adding these pics and info. I am wondering if you know how and where one can get trained to make cuckoo clocks. Some of our military veterans may be very interested in learning this rare skill.

The young clock makers in Germany first graduated from horology school. So that’s the place to start. I wonder if we have any here. Then of course there would need to be an cuckoo clock factory here to employ them, and knowledgeable managers to teach them the skills special to cuckoos… and a demand for non-Black Forest cuckoo clocks. Certainly would take a lot of time and considerable investment to get started!

Your Cuckoo Clocks are just beautifully breathtaking! How exciting to see all the work that is put into them. I especially like the ones that have a theme as the Quilter one! God has given you a special talent so you must always put it to good use. I had to give up doing craft shows because of my age setting up etc. but I still do painting (acrylic) for family members. My grandchildren will have something to remember me by!

Thanks for the kind words Elaine. Having come from the quilting world I am finding it incredibly interesting that people have cuckoo history in families just as they do quilt history. Just as grandma made quilts grandma had a cuckoo clock on the wall. It’s all about making memories, as you know and are doing!

Yes, it’s an amazing business. I haven’t shared much of the journey, but three years ago the company I had started got bought and bought again. (I didn’t own it.) Single, had to find a new way to support myself and my horses. So I started two businesses. Fortunately this one started taking off. It’s been tough as all businesses are, but just as my savings ran out I was able to start paying myself a wee bit the first of the year. What’s truly amazing is that I’m opening up a market of people that wouldn’t purchase a traditional clock — something that has needed doing. My hope is to give the cuckoo industry a shot of vitality.

The American Barn Cuckoo Clock will debut shortly, with the first batch arriving in May. Then a Modern Quilt Cuckoo Clock, a Christmas Shop Cuckoo Clock, and several others this year. So you can be saving up while you what for that gotta-have-it clock!